Samuel g



(No Model.)

S. G. LANG.

ROLLER GAGE FOR SAW MILLS.

Patentsd Nov. 8, 1887" Inventor: v

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL G. LANG, OF SANDERSVILLE, GEORGIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF I TO ORPHILA H. WILT, OF SAME PLACE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 372,809, dated November 8, 1887,

' Application filed June 24, 1887. Serial No. -242,339. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LSAMUEL G. LANG, of Sandersv'ille, in the county of- Washington and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Roller-Gages for Saw-Mills; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification, in which-- Figure 1 is a side elevation of myimproved roller-gage, and Fig. 2 a vertical section in line 00 a: of Fig. 1. v

In the roller-gages, even of the most approved form, now in use in saw-mills difficulty is experienced in setting the gage to the smaller fractional parts of an inch, so as to obtain any -width whatsoever of out, the gages beingso made as to admit of being adjusted only'to certain exact measurements which do not admit of subdivision. Difficulty is also experienced in obtaining accuracy and exactness of measurements and thicknesses, because of the backlash and lost motion incident to all of said gages, which increases in proportionas pressure upon the roller may be increased,and in maintaining the proper vertical position of the roller at a right angle to the bed-plateor frame of the mill.

The object of my invention is to obviate these difficulties and to furnish a comparatively cheap, simple, and efficient gage which may be adjusted and used by any common laborer,

will admit of being quickly set for any width of lumber to the smallest subdivisions of the scale required, and of being so adjusted as to compensate for any defect in the measurements of the saw or carriage,'and which when setshall beas firm and immovable as the frame of the mill itself, and will consequently producea perfectly true cut of the lumber.

It consists in the combination, in manner as hereinafter fully described, with the frame of a mill, of a bed-piece to be firmly bolted thereto, a sliding bracket fitted upon said piece to move to and from the carriage at a right angle to its line of movement and in which the gageroller is mounted; a clamp adapted to engage the bed piece at any point in the movement of the bracket, a cam and lever whereby the clamp is made to fimly lock the bracket upon the bed-piece when required, a lever hinged to the bed-piece and coupled to the bracket by a pivoted link,.so as to operate to move the same as required, and a pointer upon the bracket'moving with it over a scale fitted upon the bed-piece and which is made longitudinally adjustable thereon.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the frame of a sawmill; B, a bed-piece for the rollergage, saidHbed-piece consisting of a casting of suitable form adaptedto fit upon and be firmly secured to the frame, so as to extend longitudinally therefrom at a right angle thereto in front of the saw. The upper plate, 1, of this bed-piece is longitudinally slotted to receive a T-shaped clamp, O,whosc horizontal arms 2 2 extend under the plate 1, on 'each side of the slot, and whose stem or body 3 projects upward vertically through the slot into and through an aperture in the horizontal plate 4 of a bracket, D, whose vertical arm 5 furnishes suitable bearings at top and bottom for the journals of a vertical gageroller, E, fitted to turn freely therein. The upper end ofthe vertical stem 3 of the clampiron D is inserted between jaws 6 6,formed at the inner end of a lever, F, and is pivoted thereto eccentrically, the lever being left free to swing at a right angle to the length of the bracket-plate 4, and the length of the stem 3 of the clamp-iron so adjusted as that the cam' at the inner end of the lever shall bear constantly on the bracket-plate and shall operate, when the lever is turned down, (see dotted lines Fig. 2,) to firmly bind and clamp the plate 4 and bracket D upon the top of the fixed bed-piece B, and thus unite them'immovably at any point at which the plate may be set, without the possibility of any play or lost motion between them.

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piece, and this lever is connected, by means of a pivoted link, H, to the rear end of the bracketplate 4 and bracket D upon the bed-piece B to and from the plane of the saw. By this means the gage-roller is adjusted in proper position with reference to the saw to determine the width of the cut in the piece of lumber to besawed.

A horizontal roller, 1?, is journaled to turn freely in a bracket, J, (see Fig. 2,) secured to the fixed bedpiece B between the gage-roller and the saw and immediately in front of the latter, the top of said roller being in position to furnish a rest for the timber as it approach es the saw.

A scale-plate, L, properly subdivided to indicate inches and fractions of an inch,is fitted longitudinally upon one edge of the stationary bed-piece B, and secured by means of wideheaded set-screws 7 7, passing into the bed piece through longitudinal slots in the scaleplate. The position of the scale with reference to the plane of the saw may be adjusted by loosening the set-screws and moving the plate.

A pointer, M, is fitted to the sliding bracketplate 4 t0 overhang the fixed scale L, so that the movement and adjustment of the bracketplate may be accurately measured and noted on the scale to the smallest degree required.

In the operation of this improved gage the scale L is first adjusted with reference to the plane of the saw and with due allowance for any determinate irregularityin the movement either of the saw or carriage, which, if not provided for, would cause an error in the'proper reading of the scale. By this adjustment, if the bracket-plate 4 is moved so that its pointer M shall indicate, for example, two inches, the roller-gage will be thereby brought two inches from the plane of the saw, plus or minus the proper allowance for the existing irregularity, so that the cut from the log or timber shall be exactly two inches in thickness. By means of the lever G the bracket and roller may be easily moved and set to the thousandth part of an inch, if required, and by means of the eccentric lever Fand clamp Othe bracket and roller, when adjusted, may be readily locked and fixed t0 the bed-piece at that point. The full throw of the gage-roller is thus obtained without an extra adjustment. All backlash is avoided, whatsoever may be the pressure exerted, and there is no limit to the exactitude of measurement in setting the gage-roller by means of the scale, while the gage-roller cannot be strained or sprung out of its vertical position, in view of the firm hold of its plate 4 upon the bedpiece B and the tightness with which the two are held in contact.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, with the longitudinal ly-slotted bed-piece adapted to be firmly secured to the frame carrying the saw in a sawmill, of a bracket-plate and bracket made to slide longitudinally upon said bed'piece, a gage-roller journaled vertically in said bracket parallel with the face of the saw, a T-shaped clamp left free to move in the slot in the bedpiece whose horizontal arms pass under and engage the plate on each side of the slot and whose vertical stern passes up through an aperture in the bracket-plate, a cam pivoted to said stem to bear upon the bracketplate, and a lever actuating the cam, all substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. The combination, with the fixed bed-piece B, the bracket (1, sliding longitudinally upon said bed-piece, the gage-roller E, carried by said bracket, a device, substantially as described, for clamping the bracket and bed-piece together at any point in the movement of the bracket, a device,--substantially as described, for sliding the bracket-plate upon the bed piece, of an adj ustablescale-plate, L, fitted longitudinally upon the edge of the bed-piece and seen red by set-screws 7 7, passing through longitudinal slots in the scale-plate to permit of its adjustment, and a pointer, M, fitted to the bracket-plate to move with it over the scale, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set' forth.

In testimony whereof Ihave signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL G. LANG. Witnesses:

M. P. FRANK, EDWARD M. LANG. 

